TAT 2018 August Workshop
Beyond Imagination
Session Details
Friday through Sunday
August 17-19, 2018
at the Claymont Society Mansion, WV
Friday Evening
Welcome and evening interactive session
Our Friday evening session will ease everyone into the weekend through this special opportunity to connect with others and become acquainted in small groups.
Saturday Daytime
Optional group meditation
An optional session for early birds involving 30 minutes of silent sitting with a group. Participants are welcome to use their own approach to meditation. Please bring your own zabuton or cushion if you prefer to sit on the floor.
Three workshops that everyone can experience:
Nurturing What We Are - Jenny Clarke
When we try to think about what we truly are, it is like looking into a black hole – the mind simply cannot go there. So, how can we nurture something that the mind cannot see or cannot think about? Perhaps the key is to consider that there is a space that is "not the mind." How might we nurture that space? How might we use Love as a guide as we work ourselves backwards through the layers of misidentification of the mind?
Join me as we explore how affectionate attention and love can be used in the self-inquiry process and open us into that which is already there in us, and waiting to be nurtured.
The Art of Seeing - Norio Kushi
The world in which we find our self is a world that is continually being created from the way we've been programmed. Norio refers to this current programming as a "linear time-based reality." The way in which we function in this world, the way that we think, listen, and see, is continually operating from the way we've been programmed. This current programming fixates our attention in the realm of concepts, ideas, and contrast, unknowingly losing touch with our core natural being. The attention being fixated in this linear time-based reality—the way we show up and navigate this world—are as human "doings," not as human beings.
Born as a human in today's world, through no fault of our own, we have no choice but to adopt this current human doing reality. In 2003, Norio inadvertently, without effort, shifted from this programmed way of seeing. With this perceptual shift—the attention no longer fixated in this programmed reality—the true nature of being human began revealing itself, finally unveiling the cosmic joke, that we're never lacking, always whole and complete, always at home in our bodies and in the world.
Through conversation, Norio will introduce and explore this alternate way of seeing, shedding light onto the way in which we've been programmed, thereby freeing the mind, from its programming and allowing our attention to effortlessly rest in our natural way of being.
Seeing Through Imaginary Traps - Shawn Pethel
What are we without our stories? The arrangement of life events into a narrative gives us meaning, purpose, identity. If we change the narrative, do we reinvent ourselves? If so, are there as many selves as there are stories? Are any of them "real"? Seekers seek because they are dissatisfied with their self-story. They may feel that they are missing something, that they are un-grounded, adrift, or that they have been lied to. They want to know who they Truly are. Yet in asking the question the seeker inevitably grasps for new narratives, none of which are ultimately satisfying. To escape we must see through the imaginary trap. The Truth cannot be a story. What you truly are is not an answer to a question.
In this session let's explore what you imagine yourself to be. What self-story are you substituting for Truth?
Optional video presentation: The Heart of the Matter
Inside you: a longing to be other than you are, dissatisfaction, a feeling of separation from an unknown whole. Life makes no sense, yet we want to live. Words pile up in confusion like leaves at the door. These feelings rise again and again, stirring us from the comfort of our habits and routines. You relax your guard and a moment of self-honesty unfolds, saying "This cannot be denied." Here we are, in this moment, looking deep inside at The Heart of the Matter. We'll show a heart-filled selection from this video, which features presenters from the TAT Foundation's April 2011 Weekend Intensive.
Saturday Evening
What's one thing you'd like to know?
An opportunity to think about and ask questions that are on your mind. Free-ranging discussion among participants and session leaders.
Rapport sitting
Rapport means "harmonious relation," which is allowing yourself to open up through rapport with others and with your Self. It is the meaning behind the saying: "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am present."
Optional ad hoc music and sing-along
We'll open the floor for group singing and open mic music (without the mic :-) ), led by Norio Kushi. Bring your favorite instrument and best singing voice, even if you can't sing! It's a fun way to end the evening.
Sunday Daytime
Optional group meditation
An optional session for early birds involving 30 minutes of silent sitting with a group. Participants are welcome to use their own approach to meditation. Please bring your own zabuton or cushion if you prefer to sit on the floor.
Workshops (continued)
The three concurrent workshops from Saturday continue in breakout session #3. Groups will rotate to their final workshop.
Wrap-up and feedback - Monitored by Mike Gegenheimer
Session leaders and participants provide observations and comments about the weekend and suggest improvement for future workshops and other TAT events.
